Centre To Identify, Return And Rehabilitate Tribals Living As ‘Internally Displaced People’ Due To Maoist Terror

The Ministry of Tribal Affairs is set to embark on a first of its kind of initiative to identify the tribals who moved from Chhattisgarh to Andhra Pradesh due to rise in Maoist violence 15 years ago, reports Times of India.

Upon identification, the tribals will be eligible for return and rehabilitation to their state under Forest Rights Act 2006. The Internally Displaced People (IDP) live a life worse than most do in India without any access to even basic resources.

The Forest Rights Act 2006 gives land rights to all Adivasis who worked on their land till 12 December 2005. The law is aimed at correcting a historic injustice against India's indigenous people.

The development about tribal identification gains significance as previous month (April) forest officials visited Rasanagundem village at Mulkulapalli block of Bhadradri Kotadudem district in Telangana and asked all the 25 IDP families to return to Chhattisgarh.

Also, a couple of months ago, police had allegedly broke 58 houses of IDP families and given similar instruction to return to their native lands.